Judge Gags Defense Attorneys 

By Anne Reed | Updated August 23, 2023

Five pro-lifers are on trial right now in a Washington D.C. federal court. They potentially face 11 years in prison for actions they took to protect innocent unborn babies from being killed at a late-term abortion facility in D.C. 

The trial began August 9, and includes five of nine pro-life individuals involved. They have been charged with conspiracy and violation of the FACE Act, signed into law in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton. 

The FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act prohibits individuals from attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere (by use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction) with anyone obtaining or performing an abortion. 

It also protects abortion facility properties from being intentionally damaged or destroyed. Likewise, the protections apply to places of religious worship and individuals seeking to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom – but only at a place of religious worship.

“It is striking that the FACE Act draws a parallel between abortion facilities and places of religious worship – treating them with equal dignity and respect,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “It would be puzzling if we were not keenly aware of the satanic nature of what is happening inside abortion facilities where children are sacrificed every day.                                                                                                                          

“In a sense, these facilities are places of worship as well. Of course, most people who enter the doors of abortion clinics are not thinking in those terms. But, in the spiritual realm, Satan and his demons are celebrating with each and every sacrifice of innocent blood.” 

What They Did and Why

The pro-lifers on trial conducted a rescue at the Washington Surgi-Clinic operated by the notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo who was busted by a LiveAction undercover investigator readily admitting that he would not help a child with life-saving efforts if he or she survived a late-term abortion. He emphatically stated that a nearby hospital’s efforts to save the life of a child he was trying to abort was “the stupidest thing they could have done.”

Last March, some of the rescuers currently on trial were given 115 aborted babies by the driver of a medical waste van outside Santangelo’s late-term abortion facility. The murdered human babies were well developed – second and possibly third trimester. Their remains are still in a vault at the D.C. medical examiner’s office. 

The charges are not related to those remains but stem from actions taken by the pro-lifers in response to what they knew was happening inside the facility – and the remains certainly confirmed. On October 2020, the nine pro-lifers blocked the entrance of the facility. 

Video taken during the rescue effort shows members of the group inside the clinic proclaiming loudly that babies experience excruciating pain during abortion. They also exposed the abortionist for allegedly killing babies after birth.

No Free Speech in the Courtroom 

Defense attorneys reportedly plan to use photos and video footage of the remains of the aborted children to help make their case. However, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly held a pre-trial conference on August 8 wherein she warned attorneys that she would not allow claims that the defendants were acting in defense of other persons. The attorneys were informed that they were not allowed to use certain words like “infanticide, “abortion,” or “innocent lives.”

Additionally, the jury is comprised of 12 individuals, and, reportedly, at least four are strong supporters of legalized abortion.

More Insanity Calls for More Prayer

The trial is expected to last another week, and the remaining four defendants will be part of another trial beginning September 6. 

“Please pray for these pro-lifers who put their lives and liberty on the line to protect innocent babies from a painful, undeserved execution,” said Newman. “These rescuers know what and who they were attempting to protect because they saw other aborted children with their own eyes. 

“It may seem gruesome that the remains of these babies were in their possession. That’s because it is. What happens inside this abortion facility and others across the nation every day is shockingly gruesome and wicked. Our current Administration refuses to acknowledge that. This judge has even gone so far as to censor how abortion victims may be described to a jury. 

“The actions of this judge to silence the voices of the accused are shocking and should result in the calling of a mistrial!”